Chapter 2: Processing Flashcards
What is the most common dehydrating agent?
Alcohol.
During microtomy, it is noted that many of the tissues are very hard and shrunken. What happened?
The infiltrating paraffin was too hot.
What is the appropriate temperature range for infiltrating paraffin during processing?
No more than 2-4C above the melting point of paraffin.
Decalcification of small specimens can be achieved by fixation in:
Zenker. Because it contains acetic acid, it would be ideal for bone marrows and small needle cores.
What is a major disadvantage of aliphatic clearing agents?
They are incompatible with mounting media.
What is an aliphatic clearing agent?
A xylene substitute.
What will cause sensitization with prolonged use?
Limonene. It can also cause allergic reactions in some individuals.
Too speed up the lab’s processing of all surgical tissue, the temperature of all fixation, dehydrating and clearing steps has been set to 45C. What will this result in?
Microchatter due to the removal of bound water from the tissue.
What does limonene function as?
Limonene is a xylene substitute so it would be a clearing agent.
What is one advantage of aliphatic hydrocarbons?
They are low in toxicity and sensitization (sensitivity).
What is one disadvantage of using heat at all stations in the tissue processor?
Some tissues will become hard.
Dehydration refers to the removal of:
Water.
What kind of decalcification process may cause damage to the tissue?
Electrolytic.
Is chloroform combustible?
No, but it is very toxic.
What groups of reagents are used for dehydration?
Dioxane, methanol and ethanol.
When is EDTA NOT a suitable choice when decalcifying bonemarrow specimens?
When a diagnosis is required within 48 hours.
A clearing agent MUST be miscible with:
Dehydrants and infiltrating media (the steps before and after it).
Why should the alcohols be changed routinely on the tissue processor?
The alcohols absorb water from the tissues and become diluted over time.
After decalcification, what should you do with the tissue?
It should be washed in water to halt the reaction.
What is a common chelating agent used for decalcification?
EDTA.
How does ethanol function during processing?
It functions as a dehydrant.
Butyl alcohol is used as a dehydrant for what kind of tissue?
Plant tissue.
The processing step that assures that alcohol is removed from the tissue is the:
Clearing step.
Dehydrating tissue in graded alcohols instead of only absolute is superior because:
Tissue shrinkage is minimized when graded alcohols are used.
For best support during microtomy, decalcified bone specimens which have been exposed to paraffin wax should be embedded in:
“hard” paraffin wax.
What is the best method of preparing tissue for enzyme demonstration?
Unfixed frozen sections. Heat will speed up the enzymatic processes (decomposition).
How can glycol methacrylate function in a processing cycle?
It can function as a Infiltration medium that is converted to a solid by polymerization.
What infiltration medium should be used to preserve fats?
Carbowax because it does not require the use of solvents that dissolve lipids.
How does methanol function in a processing cycle?
It functions as a dehydrant.
What is the most effective method for rapidly freezing tissue?
Liquid nitrogen and isopentane.
Does the processing schedule have any impact on the time that a bone marrow specimen needs to be decalcified?
No.
When tissues have been fixed in Carnoy fluid, which processing solution should it be placed in first.
The tissue should be placed in either 95% or absolute alcohol.
Tissue must be dehydrated before placing it in:
Epoxy resin.
In order to process tissue faster, what could be done easily and will still yield a good result?
Adding agitation to each step during processing.
What is the ideal thickness of tissue prior to decalcification?
3-4mm.
Paraffin processing is contraindicated for the demonstration of:
Enzymes because the heat from paraffin processing will destroy them.
What is miscible with water, alcohol, hydrocarbons and paraffin?
Dioxane, it is a universal solvent.
Reprocessing tissue may lead to false negative IHC results because:
Repeated, heated paraffin exposure alters the epitope sites in the tissue that may lead to a false negative result.
What is the LEAST desirable method to check for the decalcification endpoint?
Physical methods because it could poke a hole in the tissue and produce an artefact.
What will prolonged dehydration in higher grades of alcohol do to a specimen?
The tissue will become hard.
For adequate clearing in xylene during routine processing, tissue should have a maximum thickness of:
3-4mm.
What is the purpose of using a hydrometer in the histopath lab?
Since they measure the specific gravity, they can be used to check the concentration in our alcohol reagents.
Processing of delicate tissues (ex. embryonic tissue), should be started in what concentration of alcohol?
30% because higher concentrations of alcohol can cause distortion of the tissue.
What will cause hazy, blue nuclear staining?
It is caused my improper heat applied during the alcohol (dehydrating) and xylene (clearing) steps.
The effect of overdecalcification is most noticeable in the staining of:
Nuclei, because over exposure to decalcification acids increases nuclear basophillia.
What is considered the BEST dehydrant?
Ethanol.
Are electrolytic procedures used for the checking of decalcification endpoints.
No.
Acid solutions soften bone tissue by removing what salt?
Calcium salts so that the bone will be soft enough to be cut during microtomy.
What should the clearing reagent be miscible with?
It should be miscible with the reagent before and after it, so the dehydrant and paraffin.
If the clearing agent is cloudy, it is most likely contaminated with:
Water because it reacts with the hydrocarbons in the clearing reagents.
What is dioxane’s main functionality?
It is a universal solvent in that it can be used as both a dehydrant and a clearant.
What gas is released during decalcification?
Carbon dioxide.
What is an advantage of adding eosin or phloxine to processing alcohols?
It will make small needle cores more visible during embedding and microtomy.
T/F The fixative used on a specimen will NOT have any impact on the degree of paraffin infiltration.
True.
How does xylene function during processing?
It functions as the most common hydrocarbon clearing agent.
What method of checking decalcification endpoints is the most likely to produce an artefact?
Physical methods, you could poke a hole in the tissue.
What is the best way to hold small pieces of tissue together in place for processing.
The use of Agar on the tissue ex. cell blocks.
Can radiography be used to decalcify specimens?
No Radiography is only really used to check the decalcification endpoint.
Which infiltration reagent is most miscible with hydrocarbons.
Paraffin wax, it is miscible with xylene and it not water soluble.
What is the process of saturating tissue with embedding medium called?
Infiltration.
What is the primary function of toluene?
It is an uncommonly used clearing reagent.
What is the BEST substitute for ethanol in processing?
Isopropanol is a good substitute for processing but NOT for staining (we used this at Kaiser).
How is microchatter caused?
Tissue drying from overdehydration.
What is the most important thing to remember while using essential oils as a clearing agent?
It is necessary to remove the oil with xylene prior to infiltration. We use this with the peanut oil/ xylene combination during the Fite stain.
Freezing tissue slowly prior to sectioning will most likely:
Yield sections showing tissue disruption caused by large ice crystals. This is most prevalent in muscle biopsies.
After H&E staining, a decalcified tissue shows some areas of very dark purple staining. What happened?
The bone section was not put in the decalcification solution long enough, those are calcium deposits.
Why is determining the endpoint of decalcification important?
Overdecalcification will result in the destruction of cellular structure. It is better to undercook than overcook.
A melting point of paraffin of 55C is used for impregnation and embedding. What should the containers of paraffin be regulated at to produce this temperature?
58C because the temperature should not exceed 4C more than the melting point of paraffin.
What is the melting point of paraffin?
55C.
When calculating the time for a perfect infiltration of paraffin into tissue, the time needed depends on the:
Thickness and texture of the tissue.